Illinois Public Media

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Illinois Public Media

Henthusiasm

Slowly but surely, urban poultry – mostly chickens, but the odd duck and goose in there, too – are becoming legal once again in urban areas, with new laws arriving on the books and in some cases, old laws are getting updated.

Twin towns of Urbana and Champaign, Illinois have had different rules about keeping fowl at home – it’s always been (murkily) legal in Urbana, but not in Champaign. In early 2014, Champaign caught up.

BASIC FACT: If you want to have chickens, you have to have somewhere for them to live. Champaign resident (and pro-fowl activist) Karen Carney and a group of her fellow "henthusiasts" partnered with their friends in Urbana to show fowl-curious folks a variety of abodes built by some experienced keepers in Urbana. The only way to do this properly in Urbana? A bike tour - the Tour de Coop.